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During the early 2360s, Starfleet had no specific data on the design of the vessel, and at the time of first contact, possessed the general knowledge that Ferengi technology was estimated to be generally equal, but not identical, to Federation technology. Upon first view of this class vessel in 2364, Jean-Luc Picard described it as a "very impressive design." (TNG: "The Last Outpost")

In addition, the D'Kora-class was equipped with a form of energy weapon emitted from the aft of the ship, detectable by a marked power surge prior to discharge. The resulting electromagnetic pulse was capable of weakening the deflector shield power of a Galaxy-class starship, as well as the capability of depleting the fusion generator and batteries by as much as thirty percent in a single discharge. (TNG: "The Last Outpost")

The script described the weapon as a "crackling pulse attack", explaining the effects of this unnamed weapon-type as "an electric-wave arc [that] ripples out and back from the trailing sides. It is something like a space-borne stingray." Aside from the script, the only other clues describing this weapon include a notation in the Star Trek Encyclopedia, which described it as a "powerful plasma energy burst," and the various Star Trek writer's guides, which state a similar description, describing "a very powerful energy/wave weapon."

With extended "neck", revealing weapon ports

In cases where a D'Kora's DaiMon was forced to surrender, the ship would extend its "neck", and open the ship's weapon ports to expose the ship's sensitive areas. This posture was also sometimes viewed as a preparation to attack. (TNG: "The Last Outpost")

The script described this process of the ship going into this posture as, "the snake head-like prow's pushing out from the ship body," and "the Ferengi ship now extends gun-like arms from either side of the prow." This posture was only shown in "The Last Outpost" during the Ferengi surrender.

It has been observed that at least one D'Kora-class vessel was equipped with an embedded auxiliary vessel, the capabilities of which are unknown to date. (TNG: "The Last Outpost")

As in the cases of the AeroWing or the Calypso, both in concept and practice, an unseen element in the D'Kora-class design was an integrated auxiliary craft designed to drop down from the bottom of the ship's neck. The outline of the shuttle appearing on the belly of the Marauder, which can be seen (shown right) as having a swept-forward wing, was the farthest that this design was taken by the production team. [1]

The term "D'Kora-class" was first associated with this Ferengi starship class in "Force of Nature", and again in display graphics appearing in the two above referenced Voyager episodes. With exception to Nog's reference to Marauder-classattack cruisers in "Little Green Men", the only reference to this design being referred to as a "Marauder" (outside of the Star Trek Encyclopedia) was in a display graphic appearing in "Inside Man" (shown right).